Summer is here and school is out but that doesn’t mean the learning stops. Many educators feel it is important for children to use their reading and math skills during the holidays so they don’t lose their knowledge. Summer is also a great time to teach your kids skills that they will use in their lives. The question is how to do this so it is fun for everyone.
When you travel
When planning your road trip, encourage your kids to read the tour books and maps to see where you are going and what they would like to do. While travelling, ask them to help with the sign and map reading duties and calculate the distance travelled, cost of gas and amount used per litre.
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That will help to put math problems into everyday terms. Provide a notebook for each of your children to write down their experiences and track expenses. They could also help you track costs such as meals, accommodation and entertainment. Giving them the money to pay for purchases and helping them count the change will also teach them money math.
In the garden
Have your kids search the internet for descriptions of local weeds or information about the vegetables that you are growing. Then have them identify the different plants when helping you in the garden.
They may find cool recipes to try with the fresh produce. Counting the carrots, cucumbers and corn or weighing the vegetables help children to understand quantity and weights.
The following recipe is a great way to get your family to try spinach. Children can help to pick and wash it. Chopped spinach is easier for little people to eat.
Green macaroni and cheese
Makes five servings
4 cups fresh picked spinach 1 L
or 1 (10 oz./300 g) bag of baby spinach
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed 25 mL
lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 15 mL
12 oz. whole wheat macaroni 375g
1 cup shredded white cheddar 250 mL
cheese
or 1/2 cup grated Parmesan 125 mL
cheese
1/2 cup slivered almonds, 125 mL
toasted
Freshly ground back pepper
In a food processor, pulse spinach, lemon juice and olive oil for 15 seconds, until roughly pureed. Don’t overdo it.
Cook the macaroni until al dente (tender to the bite). Drain and return to the pot. Add spinach mixture, tossing to coat evenly. Stir in cheese and almonds. Season to taste with pepper.
Source: The Dietitians of Canada, Simply Great Food.
In the kitchen
Reading recipes and measuring ingredients are great for learning new words and reinforcing fractions and measurement units. It also provides an opportunity to teach kitchen safety with knives, appliances and the stove.
Cooking can also encourage creativity. I had four siblings over one afternoon for a cookie making bee. Greg, the youngest and only boy, wanted to make chocolate chip cookies. When he saw his sister using some marshmallows in her fudge recipe, he wanted to add some to his cookie dough. They were delicious.
Greg’s smore cookies
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour 560 mL
1 teaspoon baking soda 5 mL
1 teaspoon salt 5 mL
1 cup butter softened 250 mL
3/4 cup granulated sugar 175 mL
3/4 cup packed brown sugar 175 mL
1 teaspoon vanilla 5 mL
2 eggs
1 package (350 g) chocolate chips
1 cup miniature marshmallows 250 mL
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, sugars and vanilla, beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat. Slowly add the flour mixture and beat until a soft dough forms. Using a large spoon, stir in the chocolate chips and marshmallows.
Drop dough by heaping teaspoons, two inches (five cm) apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for nine to 11 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Cool completely before storing.
Makes five dozen cookies.
Adapted from A Cookie Lover’s Collection.
Safety
Whether at the beach, in the garden or at home, always take a few minutes for safety. If children are riding bikes, be sure they use helmets and learn the rules of the road, even in the farmyard. If near the lake or the back yard paddling pool, always have someone watching them.
If your kids are helping with the yard work, keep them away from the lawn mower or rototiller. If they are operating such equipment, they should wear long pants and heavy shoes and should shut off the machine before unplugging obstructions or emptying clippings. Safety lessons are worth repeating.
Learning the meaning of words
Dear TEAM: I am confused between the terms grate and shred. It seems they are often used interchangeably in recipes. – L. H., Elkhorn, Man.
Dear L.H.: The New Food Lover’s Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst is a good resource for these questions.
Grate: to reduce a large piece of food to small particles or thin shreds. It is accomplished by rubbing it against a coarse kitchen grater or by using a food processor fitted with a shredding disc. The food should be firm, so cheese should be refrigerated.
Shred: To cut food into narrow strips, either by hand or by using a grater or a food processor fitted with a shredding disk. Cooked meat can be shredded by pulling it apart with two forks.
Grating reduces the food to small pieces while shredding produces long thin strips.
In the macaroni and cheese recipe, the cheddar cheese is shredded because it produces long thin strips but the Parmesan is grated because it is a harder cheese and breaks into small pieces when grated.
For carrots, it would depend on how you hold the carrot. If you rub the end of the carrot across the grater, you are going to get small pieces for use in a cake recipe. If you run the length of the carrot over the grater, you are going to have long thin shreds, which are often used in a salad.
If you want to decorate something, shreds are used because they look more attractive. Different sizes of grater blades will produce smaller or larger pieces of food, depending on the use. Larger pieces might be preferred for soup, while smaller pieces would mix in better for baking.
Farm and Home Safety Contest
A farm is a dangerous place to live and work and there are always things that can be done to make a home safer. What have you done to make your farm or home safer? We would like to hear from you. Send us your innovative ideas or a story about how your safety precautions made a difference.
Please send them to TEAM Resources at The Western Producer, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or team@producer.com by Oct. 15. We will review them and present prizes for the best safety idea or steps taken.
Betty Ann Deobald is a home economist from Rosetown, Sask., and one of four columnists comprising Team Resources. Send correspondence in care of this newspaper, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or contact them at team@producer.com.
